The Ferguson Group Blog

FEMA Seeks Applicants for Youth Preparedness Council

Do you know a 12 – 17 year old who makes a difference in your community’s disaster preparedness? If so, you should consider nominating him or her for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Youth Preparedness Council (YPC)!

The YPC provides an opportunity for young leaders to serve as a member of a distinguished national council and participate in the YPC Summit where the council meets with emergency management leadership to discuss steps to strengthen the nation’s resiliency against all types of disasters. The selected youth will also be able to complete a youth preparedness project of their choosing and learn about youth disaster preparedness from the leadership at FEMA and other national organizations dedicated to youth preparedness.

Anyone between the ages of 12 and 17 who is engaged in individual and community preparedness can apply on his/or her own behalf or be nominated by an adult familiar with his/her youth preparedness activities to serve on the Youth Preparedness Council. Individuals interested in applying must submit a completed application form, a narrative, and a letter of recommendation. The letter of recommendation can be from any adult, including a parent, guardian, community first responder, or teacher.

All applications and supporting materials are due by April 19, 2013. For more information about the Youth Preparedness Council and to access the application materials, click here.

Fire and Emergency Response Grant Forecasting

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) wants to help you, local fire and EMS services providers, be prepared to apply for the next round of grants through the Assistance to Firefighter Grant (AFG), Fire Prevention and Safety Grants (FP&S), and Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) programs.

FEMA has announced that they expect the FY 2013 SAFER application period to open in the mid-spring. They also expect to open the application period for the FY 2013 AFG program in the summer and the FY 2013 FP&S application period in the fall/winter. Keep in mind these dates are tentative but they should give you an idea of what is ahead so you can prepare and accurately budget your time!

Like all grants, the more time you have to prepare and formulate your grant proposal, the better your chances are of being successful! Some of the key things you can be doing right now, in advance of the release of solicitation, are the following:

• Start Early: Don’t wait for the solicitation/application guidelines to come out to begin work, be proactive! Review the previous year’s NOFA to get a good idea of the grant requirements. This will help you to formulate your project idea and assemble your grant writing team. You can review last year’s program guidelines by clicking here.
• Collect Data Now: Begin to collect any necessary data that needs to be included in the application.
• Pick-up the Phone: Reach out to the grant program contact at FEMA, these people are happy to clarify items for you. If you have unsuccessfully submitted an application to a federal grant program in a previous year, request to receive feedback on that application in the form of a debrief. This will help you to successful reapply and fix your previous applications shortfalls.

If you have any questions relating to the FEMA grant programs mentioned above, please feel free to reach out to me at [email protected]. 

School Safety Enhancements Act of 2013

The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday to markup several gun-violence related measures, including the School Safety Enhancement Act of 2013 (S. 146).

The School Safety Enhancement Act was introduced by Senator Boxer in response to the tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut late last year. This bill would expand upon and strengthen the Department of Justice’s COPS Secure our Schools grant program that was last funded in Fiscal Year 2011.

The new and improved competitive grant program would be authorized at $100 million and could be used by schools for the installation of surveillance equipment and the establishment of hotlines or tiplines for the reporting of potentially dangerous students and situations.

In addition, Senator Boxer’s bill would allow the Department of Justice to reduce the local cost-share for the COPS Secure our Schools program from 50 percent to 20 percent. The bill also creates a joint task force between the Justice Department and the Department of Education to develop new school safety guideline.

The additional gun-violence related measures being considered on Thursday include, S.150, Assault Weapons Ban of 2013; S.54, Stop Illegal Trafficking in Firearms Act of 2013; and S.374, Protecting Responsible Gun Sellers Act of 2013.

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, the Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments.  Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Senators Offer A Bipartisan Blueprint for Immigration

A bipartisan group of senators have agreed on a set of principles to overhaul the country’s immigration system.  Under the plan, the nation’s 1 million undocumented immigrants would have a path to citizenship.  The plan would also tighten immigration enforcement.  The group hopes that this proposal will help to frame the upcoming immigration debate.  Read more . . .

Senior Citizens Drive Infrastructure Spending

Mayors around the country are beginning to understand that mobility plays a big role in the health and well-being of America’s rapidly aging population.  Policies that allow older people to maintain their social ties with the community encourage greater life expectancies. Investing in transportation infrastructure also allows older individuals, who may not have access to cars, to maintain community ties and easily access medical care.  Read more . . .

Virginia’s Bold, New Transportation Funding Idea

Governor Bob McDonnell (VA) has a new plan to fund his state’s transportation needs.  He plans on repealing the gas tax and raising a portion of the sales tax dedicated to transportation to pay for more than $3.1 billion in new transportation funding.  Read more . . .

Rep. Paul Ryan Says He Thinks ‘Sequester Is Going To Happen’

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) thinks that the sequester, a series of mandatory across the board federal spending cuts, will take place on March 1.  He believes that the cuts will occur because Democrats have opposed Republican offers to replace those cuts with other cuts and have offered no alternative spending cut proposals.  Read more . . .

Congress Takes Up Gun Violence

Today, the Senate Judiciary committee was scheduled to hear various proposals on stronger gun controls.  One proposal would ban fast-firing semiautomatic weapons and ammunition magazines that can hold more than 10 bullets.  Another proposal would make federal background checks universal, while another proposal would create a separate criminal offense for gun trafficking.  Read more . . .

President Obama Signs $50B Sandy Relief Bill

The President signed into law a $50.5 billion emergency measure that would aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy.  The bill will help residents and businesses in storm ravaged communities, rebuild and recover.  As with past natural disasters, the Sandy aid bill is not offset with spending cuts.  Read more . . .

Sen. Feinstein to Roll Out Ban on Assault Weapons

After the tragedy in Newtown, Connecticut late last year, gun control legislation has been put back on the national agenda.  Several key politicians and some advocacy groups have expressed an interest in working to pass gun control legislation in the coming year.  One such politician is Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA).  Today, she will introduce an updated version of her assault weapon and large capacity clip ban that expired in 2004.  Conference of Mayors President Michael A. Nutter will stand with Senator Feinstein in Washington to help introduce the legislation to the public in a press conference.

The bill is similar to the one that Sen. Feinstein introduced in 1994.  It contains a variety of provisions that both ban many assault weapons, while at the same time protect the rights of existing gun owners and legitimate hunters.  These provisions include the following:

• Ban the sale, transfer, importation, or manufacturing of 120 specifically-named firearms and certain other semiautomatic rifles, handguns, and shotguns;
• Ban large-capacity ammunition feeding devices, capable of accepting more than ten rounds;
• Strengthen the 1994 Assault Weapons Ban and state bans;
• Protect legitimate hunters and the rights of existing gun owners by grandfathering weapons legally possessed on the date of enactment and exempting over 900 specifically-named weapons used for hunting and sporting and antique, manually-operated, and permanently disabled weapons;
• Require that grandfathered weapons be registered under the National Firearms Act; ban the transfer of grandfathered large-capacity ammunition feeding devices; establish a voluntary buy-back program for grandfathered assault weapons and large-capacity ammunition feeding devices; and impose a safe storage requirement for grandfathered firearms.

President’s Gun Proposal Plusses Up Funding for COPS Hiring Program

If you work in local government or law enforcement, you know that the funds the federal government provides through their COPS Hiring Grant program have been in decline. Since the Recovery Act provided $1 billion in funding to hire, rehire or retain nearly 5,000 law enforcement positions in 2009, funding levels have slumped to $791 million in 2010 and only $495 million in 2011.

As part of the President’s gun violence prevention proposal, which was unveiled at the White House yesterday, the President wants to plus-up COPS Hiring funding to $4 billion, which is projected to help keep 15,000 cops on the street in cities and towns. This bold bump in funding will require the cooperation of Congress, but one change to the COPS Hiring program will happen by administrative action.  For the first time, this year the Department of Justice will provide an incentive for police departments to hire school resource officers by providing a preference for grant applications that support school resource officers.

Follow this link for information on the full proposal.

'Tis the Season for NIJ Solicitations!

I was pleased to open an email from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) announcing that they will be releasing many of their Fiscal Year 2013 solicitations for research, development, and evaluation in the coming months.

NIJ has a very user friendly site that includes a forthcoming funding page, which lists the title and descriptions of upcoming grant solicitations. NIJ will continue to update this site with details on more grant programs and future grant solicitations.

Take a minute to review the grant programs listed under the categories of forensic sciences, social sciences, and physical sciences and technology to help you and your agency prepare to apply for these grant opportunities.

In addition, please don’t hesitate to post a comment on this blog if you have a particular question regarding one of the grant programs, and a TFG staff member will get back to you with an answer!

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments.  Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Cities and towns are collaborating more often to provide more and better services to residents

 Metro-area communities have begun to cut costs by sharing fire chiefs, training programs, and emergency dispatch technology.  The leaders from 15 cities and 3 different counties have come together in a pilot program to expand on their limited resources and growing demand for services.  Read More…

Leading the Way on ‘Lean’

Washington’s Governor, Chris Gregoire, is leading a government wide lean initiative to eliminate waste from business processes.  “Lean” has become synonymous with state-government transformation.  It has successfully eliminated livestock inspection nonpayment and reduced cash payments by 90 percent while cutting non-value-added steps by 20 percent for Washington’s Department of Agriculture.  Read More…

Health Exchange Plans Become Clearer After Election

States have until Friday, November 16^th to submit their health exchange blueprints to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).  Governors have three options, a state-run exchange, a federal run exchange, or a state-federal partnership exchange.  Read More…

Americans would go over the ‘fiscal cliff’ with Congress, in variety of ways

The effects of the ‘fiscal cliff’ will reach far and wide, from doctors that accept Medicare, recipients of unemployment aid, defense contractors to national park rangers.  If the fiscal cliff takes effect in January, middle income families can expect to pay an average of $2,000 more next year, up to 3.4 million jobs lost, and the unemployment rate could reach 9.1%.  Read More…

Towns seeking federal help to recoup Sandy costs

Pennsylvania is asking for federal reimbursements to cover costs its counties and municipalities spent on preparing for Hurricane Sandy.  The federal emergency declaration only provided Direct Federal Assistance for supplies like generators and food, not overtime and debris clean up. Read More…

 

Wednesday News Roundup

Every Wednesday, The Ferguson Group blog will be posting a series of articles published over the previous week that discuss topics of interest to local governments. Learn about emerging trends and keep up on key policy issues by browsing the TFG Wednesday News Roundup!

Milwaukee Police Give 911 a Facelift

A Milwaukee Police Chief has a new way to respond to crime, and it doesn’t involve the police coming to you.  Differential Police Response (DPR) allows officers to respond to certain grievances via the phone, allowing them more time to patrol “hotspot” areas.  Read More…

Some in Congress Look to $55 Billion Fiscal Cliff ‘Fallback’

Some in Congress would like to avoid the upcoming “fiscal cliff,” large cuts in the federal government, by scrapping the across-the-board spending cuts of $109 billion and replacing them with targeted savings of $55 billion.  Read more…

In Fairfax County, Sequestration is Already Here

The possibility of more than $1 trillion in mandatory federal spending cuts is already taking a toll in Fairfax County.  While communities across the country are dreading the cuts, the threat looks especially ominous to Fairfax County, where a lot of residents have jobs that depend--either directly or indirectly--on the Federal government.  Read more…

Study Touts Job Potential of ‘Smart’ Infrastructure

A report put out by Deloitte Consulting and the New England Council states that investments in “smart” infrastructure have the potential to create 27,000 new jobs in New England alone.  “Smart” infrastructure includes transportation systems, diversified energy sources, access to high-speed internet, a skilled work force, and appropriate financing.  The report offers eight recommendations for building “smart” infrastructure.  Read more…

Dedicated Bike Lanes Can Cut Cycling Injuries in Half

New research shows that dedicated bike lanes can cut in half the rates of injury for cyclists, with protected bike lanes nearly eliminating the risk of injury.  Read more…

 

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Domestic Violence Awareness Month has become a time to celebrate survivors, encourage advocates, empower victims, and mourn the deaths of those lost to domestic violence. Around the country, communities are coming together this month to hold vigils, public awareness programs, survivor speak outs and take back the night marches, and town hall meetings.  As a result of federal resources authorized by Congress and provided through the Department of Justice - Office on Violence Against Women, among others, we have seen the development of specialized domestic law enforcement units and prosecution programs, as well specific programs to meet the needs of underserved communities.  Through the Department of Health and Human Services, we have also seen new research and an emphasis on the impact on children who have witnessed violence in the home. 

Building safe homes and safe communities requires shelter and housing, law enforcement protection, access to justice, and economic opportunity.  In December 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released the first-ever National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey which found that domestic violence affects more than 12 million people each year, nearly 1 in 5 women have been raped in their lifetime and 1 in 4 have been a victim of severe physical violence by an intimate partner.

What can you do?  Become knowledgeable about the facts, identify resources in your community and raise awareness.  Support victims who are rebuilding their lives. Support advocates with better resources and law enforcement tools. Support the passage of the Violence Against Women Act reauthorization bill currently pending in Congress. 

Get Involved! Take time to thank the hotline workers who work the night shift to be there around the clock for victims in need. Pay tribute to the shelter workers who show that they care every day and the law enforcement officers who treat victims with dignity and respect when they knock on a door. Acknowledge the prosecutors who take on tough cases and the doctors who screen their patients for domestic violence. Thank the community-based organizations that reach people in their neighborhoods and the faith leaders who speak out about ending domestic violence.

Make sure your city and county government have employee assistance workplace policies in place. Be an example for the private sector.  Domestic violence causes two million injuries each year, and an average of three women in the United States die each day as a result of domestic violence. The CDC estimates that domestic violence costs our nation $8 billion a year in lost productivity and health care costs alone, and other studies have suggested that the full economic impact is even higher.

Domestic violence remains a significant problem facing individuals, families and communities. While a disproportionate number of victims are women, domestic violence affects the entire family. Spend this October – Domestic Violence Month -- getting your own house in order and thanking those serving on the front line every day.